{"id":25824,"date":"2020-03-31T16:38:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T15:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=25824"},"modified":"2020-03-31T16:38:30","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T15:38:30","slug":"city-hall-overrules-southwark-council-to-approve-500m-bermondsey-biscuit-factory-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=25824","title":{"rendered":"City Hall overrules Southwark Council to approve \u00a3500m Bermondsey Biscuit Factory Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"City Hall has overruled Southwark Council to approve a \u00a3500m development on Bermondsey\u2019s Biscuit Factory despite concern over a \u2018shortfall\u2019 of social housing as the plans, initially thrown out by Southwark\u2019s planning committee over a lack of affordable homes, will see existing buildings owned by Grosvenor in the Biscuit Factory demolished for the creation of 1,548 build-to-rent homes.<\/h3>\n

Southwark News writes:<\/p>\n

Compass School, currently in unsuitable premises on Drummond Road, will get a new \u201cstate-of-the-art\u201d school in the development due to open its doors in September 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe site has the potential to deliver more than 1,500 new homes in an area of London with a high demand for affordable housing,\u201d said Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe, acting on behalf of Sadiq Khan, as he approved the decision this morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, it would make a significant contribution towards the regeneration of this part of Bermondsey.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, ward councillors and Southwark Council have voiced fears that the \u2018affordable\u2019 homes are not truly affordable for Bermondsey residents, and that the 140 social homes fall short of the minimum number demanded by planning policy.<\/p>\n

This \u2018shortfall\u2019 is despite the fact that Grosvenor, responsible for the application, is headed up by the billionaire Duke of Westminster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we all recognize the housing crisis and the need to build homes, that cannot be pursued at the expense of building the homes that people can actually afford to live in,\u201d said Cllr Hamish McCallum (Lib Dem, North Bermondsey).<\/p>\n

\u201cWho will these \u201caffordable\u201d properties be \u2018affordable\u2019 to \u2013 because it certainly won\u2019t be my constituents?\u201d<\/p>\n

He added following the decision: \u201cThis will obviously be a huge disappointment to hundreds of local residents who will be impacted by the heights and other impacts of this scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Leo Pollak (Labour, South Bermondsey) said he recognised the efforts of the Mayor in getting more homes secured in this round of the application.<\/p>\n

Previously Grosvenor had offered 27.5% \u2018affordable\u2019 and no social homes at all.<\/p>\n

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However, he added: \u201cBut it remains far below what Southwark would require. We believe housing supply should be meeting the needs of the local community.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cGrosvenor has a long, proud tradition of genuine affordable housing \u2013 but this tradition has been abandoned in this instance.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the news has been welcomed by some in Bermondsey \u2013 most notably Compass School which will get a brand-new school building.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic day for our community and those who have fought for our pupils\u2019 rights to have the very best facilities,\u201d said headteacher Marcus Huntley.<\/p>\n

The school has been occupying temporary premises for the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Others who spoke in favour of the application being approved include Russell Dryden, chair of the Blue Bermondsey BID and Sheila Taylor, chair of the Cherry Garden TRA.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Grosvenor\u2019s plans] felt like a 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century version of the council estate I grew up in as a child,\u201d said Ms Taylor.<\/p>\n

And in a riposte to housing campaigners 35 per cent campaign, who spoke in opposition, Mr Dryden, a Blue Market trader, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve heard from the 35 per cent campaign \u2026 well I\u2019d like to say that I\u2019m from the 100 per cent campaign \u2013 100 per cent Bermondsey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grosvenor\u2019s executive director of Major Projects, Simon Harding-Roots, said the firm wanted to \u201cbring lasting social and commercial benefit to the communities where we work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to the area and will ensure that the transformation of the Biscuit Factory happens quickly and directly supports all those living and working in this part of the borough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City Hall has overruled Southwark Council to approve a \u00a3500m development on Bermondsey\u2019s Biscuit Factory despite concern over a \u2018shortfall\u2019 of social housing as the plans, initially thrown out by Southwark\u2019s planning committee over a lack of affordable homes, will … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25826,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25824\/revisions\/25826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}